Motherhood

I cannot read two books at once for the same reasons I could not have two children.

I always have a book on CD going in my car, but for some reason that doesn't count. I do make sure that my CD book and my "real" book are very different genres or topics but I think reading a "real" book invades my mind more completely than listening to someone else read to me. Whatever bound pages I am carrying around is what I consider the "book" I am reading.

Well, I thought I would reread The Grapes of Wrath (in preparation for the first Winter Discussion Group of 2008) while also reading Obscene In The Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. Both books are fabulous. That is the problem.

Whenever I am reading one book, I am wondering about the other. Have I read both equally today? Am I getting more ahead in one? Does the other book feel neglected? Am I paying attention to what I am reading right now? My god, imagine if these were children! I would be counting hugs and timing conversations.

I only have one dog and I will only have one child and from now on I'm a one book at a time girl.

Post script: Jodi from circulation brought me a cookie in the shape of a shoe. It was beautiful and I was going to take a picture or scan it for the blog but I was hungry and I ate it. It was delicious.